Trump’s America – Strong Men, Weak Times

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Feb. 2, 2018: I was going to write an insightful episode about Trump’s State of the Union Speech this week. And I will. Or I was going to write about Melania Trump’s expensive jet travels at our expense for no good reason and I will.
Then The New York Times threw me a curve ball Thursday evening with what will probably be a front page story Friday slamming President Trump and it was just too inviting for me to slam out of the hypocrisy park.

(Spoiler alert – if you can’t wait, read series dedication that ends all episodes)

This week, The Times, a frequent partner here, is a very perverse “partner.”

No, no, no, not Trump’s hypocrisy – yes there is plenty of it – but in this case The New York Times proves just how good they are at it too. When the kettle tells the stove it is black as The Times does Trump all the time all, this story proves they are both dirty.

As you can see or read, I am worked up and so should you.

So what is this story that puts The New York Times in the same category as Trump? For blasting Trump in this story as a hypocrite, which in fact much more proves The New York Times’ own hypocrisy and in so doing, undermining The Times’ relentless attacks on Donald Trump. A glaring omission!

There is truth in this story, but what it leaves out speaks much louder.

“Silence From U.S. As Strongmen Roll Over Their Rivals” it begins ….

CAIRO — “When it comes to securing a second term in power, Egypt’s president is leaving little to chance.

“Potential rivals in the March election have been sidelined, jailed or threatened with prosecution. The news media is largely in his pocket. On polling day, Egyptians will have a choice between President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and one of his most ardent supporters — an obscure politician drafted at the 11th hour to avoid the embarrassment of a one-horse race.”

But of course the story is not truly about Sisi or the others in The Times laundry list of Strong Men; they are just bit players here ….

Let’s cut to the chase far into the story …

“Mr. Trump has barely paid lip service to the promotion of universal human rights, and experts say his warm embrace of hard-line leaders like President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, whose anti-drug drive has killed thousands of his own citizens without due process, has only encouraged their worst excesses.”

More, more …

“The issue is a troubling one,” Stewart M. Patrick, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said in an email. “Trump’s lionizing of the ‘strong’ leadership qualities of authoritarian personalities like Putin, Erdogan, Duterte, and Sisi — as well as his own attacks on free press at home — cannot help but to embolden their efforts to crack down on civil society and crush dissent in their own countries.”

We want more still …

“Trump administration officials question the value of publicly lecturing friendly autocrats about their record, arguing that such criticisms are more effectively made in private. Last year, Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson said that while American “values” like freedom and human dignity still underpinned American policies abroad, insisting that others adopt those values “creates obstacles” to advancing American security and economic interests.”

The Times adds …

“Mr. Trump, however, has not hesitated to use human rights as a cudgel against unfriendly countries, like Iran, North Korea and Venezuela, whose records he criticized in his State of the Union address on Tuesday.”

Who is missing that Trump named them in his State of the Union speech?

Who is completely missing from this 1652 word Times article??

You know who certainly is not missing and even gets a big photo too?

Sorry no prize; the question is too easy and here he is …

“And the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, who was once forced to surrender power for four years to respect his Constitution, has barred the main opposition challenger in the March election, virtually assuring that he will win a fourth term. Mr. Trump has repeatedly expressed his desires for closer ties with Mr. Putin.”

No Times article about Trump would be complete minus Vladimir V. Putin, the dream candidate to lead to Donald Trump impeachment in Fantasyland.

OK, OK, OK. If you haven’t guessed by now who is the Strong Man or even his country not to be found anywhere, this article even hinted who by his absence and in effect declared NOT one of the world’s dangerous Strong Men.

Yes, it is by far the world’s most dangerous Strong Man who none of the other Strong Men comes close to on how repressive and dangerous he is to his own people and to the future of the United States and the entire world.

The New York Times outrageously leaving Xi off its list of Strong Men around the world. It is a gift to Xi of priceless value and while it is 9 AM Friday morning as I write, Xi and the boys are breaking open bottles of the rare 1935 Lai Mao China’s most expensive wine….

….. parting up a storm while Nobel Peace Prize recipient Liu Xiaobo rots in his grave and millions of other Chinese seekers of freedom and democracy do the same or rot alive in Chinese torture prisons, even for just ever so mildly criticizing Xi and his repression.

What The New York Times has done is given Xi a free pass rather than put him at the top of the list of Strong Men, menacing their own citizens and undermining democratic institutions and seeking to replace the United States as the model for national success in the 21st century with a police state without any elections – let alone free elections and no free speech at all.

Shame on The New York Times and never forget Liu Xiaobo. See below.

(This entire series is dedicated in honor of China’s late Liu Xiaobo)

Arthur-Piccolo-ObamasAmericaEDITOR’S NOTE: About The Writer: Arthur Piccolo is a professional writer and commentator and often writes about Latin America for New Americas.